21 Interesting Facts You May Not Know About Weird Al

The prince of musical parody started out just like any other celebrity: undiscovered. But much to everyone's surprise, the type of comedy that Weird Al Yankovic, or Alfred Yankovic, wrote and performed was in mass demand by the public. People needed an excuse to laugh at all the top 40 hits that take themselves too seriously, and Weird Al was more than ready to supply that humor. Initially an architecture student at a California university, Weird Al quickly discovered he was much more interested in music. The comedy aspect came into play when he started a friendship with Dr. Demento, a radio broadcaster with a knack for novelty jingles. The two worked Al's career from the bottom up and the rest is history.

Despite what you may think you know about Weird Al, there's probably a lot more that you don't. Although his bio isn't anything extraordinary, the relationships he has fostered within the music industry are quite spectacular. Anecdotes and stories from fellow musicians or comedians will show a side to Weird Al that you probably wouldn't expect, a very respectful (except by Prince), grateful, hard-working musician. And although his songs come across as light-hearted fun, the amount of effort, thought, and production he puts into them is some hard work.

Weird Al is definitely weird. And his passion for goofy comedy in the form of musical parodies is even weirder. But you'd be surprised at the amount of weird things you probably don't know about the comedic musician. Gathered here are all the most interesting facts, trivia, quotes, and stories about the man who once wrote a song called "White and Nerdy." So here are 21 interesting facts you may not know about Weird Al.

After he graduated with a degree in architecture, Weird Al decided the field just wasn't for him. In need of a job, Yankovic applied for a job at McDonald's. Al, who was previously valedictorian of his high school class, was denied the job. The reason behind the decision was because Weird Al was overly qualified for the position.

Video: YouTube Kind of. Jeopardy! had been off the air since 1975, but Weird Al sparked somewhat of a revival after the release of his song and music video for "I Lost on Jeopardy." The video, which featured former host Art Fleming, was a huge success. With high ratings for Wheel of Fortune, the network was looking to pair the game show with another. Only three months after Weird Al's song was released, NBC started filming the revamped edition of Jeopardy! with Alex Trebec. Either an incredibly weird coincidence or Weird Al may have just put the show back on the map.

On multiple occasions, Weird Al asked Prince and his management for permission to parody one of his songs. Every time, Prince angrily declined and Al seemed to catch the hint. Apparently, Prince is the only artist that has consistently said 'no' to Yankovic. Weird Al's request didn't boil over well with the Purple Prince. In fact, at the American Music Awards, one of Prince's assistants handed Yankovic a personal note that told him never to make eye contact with him. Apparently Yankovic wasn't the only one to receive the note, but the circumstances behind the "request" were obvious.

After enrolling as an architecture major at California Polytechnic State, he started a gig at his local university radio station. Yankovic, in desperate need of a DJ name, decided on "Weird Al" for his radio persona. Despite only playing New Wave music for the station, Al managed to subtly push some comedy into his midnight to 3 am spin.